PlanetSide 2 Review

Definition

It's an MMO(kindof) FPS. The best way to describe it is that it's like Battlefield (combat), Halo (style and story) and World of Warcraft: Alterac Valley (objectives) combined.

There are three factions to choose from, and the game setting is a massive open world where all 3 factions have a home base at the far ends. There is no PvE, just PvP. But let me clarify, it's more like a war-time PvP experience, where you're in a huge world littered with bases and capture points and (literally) hundreds of players on each side in tanks, airplanes and on foot. So to me, it feels more like a coop shooter than a PvP shooter (sometimes).

The objective is to control as many bases and capture points as you can, as they increase your resource generation as well as other perks that improve your game-play.

Killing other units and capturing bases gets you experience and "certification" points. Experience increases your rank (level) and certification points can be spent as a currency on better gear and new weapons for your class or preferred vehicle type.

There are different classes to choose from, and you level each one individually. They are: Light Assault (jet packs), Heavy Assault, Max (think mech warrior), Engineer, Combat Medic and Infiltrator (sniper).

Aside from the various ground troop classes, you can spawn vehicles and aircraft at bases, which you can use to help punch your way through the line, or hold a base that's under siege. The vehicles range from person ATV's, to tanks to planes and vehicles that can transport up to 20 people at a time.

The game is free-to-play, with the option to purchase "Station credits" to spend on experience boost packs as well as the ability to buy any upgrades.

Review

When I first launched this game, they (literally) dropped me in a "hot zone" where I came out shooting right out of the pod. From what I could tell amidst mayhem, it was an attempt by one of the opposing factions to capture a large base. I was deployed on an upper level of the base and as I attempted to find a vantage point, while dodging tracer fire and explosions, I noticed that there were a number of tanks channeling in from between two mountains, and they were firing up at our level where there were anti-aircraft and anti-tank manned turrets. I could see a few tanks and troops on the ground that were keeping the encroachers pinned to the entry point. Just then, a shell exploded near me, downing 3 guys who were standing just feet away from me. This was immediately followed by an aircraft (the culprit) swooshing by. I ran for cover and started to see if I could make my way to the ground to help push back the tanks.

As I reached the ground floor, I could more clearly see that there was a larger fire fight going on that I originally could make out. There were dozens of enemy troops trying to clear the way for the tanks to push through the pass. I engaged in the fire fight (ultimately favoring the Heavy Assault class), the rest was epic history, and I'm pretty much hooked on this game. It's the best large-scale PvP game I've played to date.